How Did The Roman Government Influence Technology

Between the years of 500 B.C.E. to 500 C.E., many classical civilizations, especially China and Rome, were greatly dependent on technology. This was due to the immense amount of trade and infrastructure of Rome under Pax Romana, with the creation of aqueducts, bath houses, and roads, and China under the Han Dynasty with the Silk Roads, stretching all the way towards the Roman Empire, in the west. Trade provoked an increasing need and appreciation for technology, which resulted in certain attitudes toward technology. The attitudes of the Han and Roman government regarding technology was the utmost respect and appreciation, which could be seen by the treatment towards important sources of technology, such as water technology. Water was a great
In Document 1, a Han government official, addresses water conservation efforts and inspections of the waterways in China (Doc 1). Document 1 is a firm request toward the local officials, with the intent to make the government work on water conservation and to have men work on infrastructure to prevent flooding. This document was directed toward local officials, because it is their responsibility to provide the citizens basic necessities to prevent disaster. This idea comes from the confucian philosophy, that was practice during the Han Dynasty, which states that a ruler must provide a good and safe environment, while the subjects must trust and respect their ruler. There is a great deal of respect for technology, which can be seen by, a government official’s request for men to be appointed for regular repairs of the infrastructure to prevent flooding. Likewise, in Discourses on Salt and Iron, a Han government official explains how the government has monopolized the salt and iron trades, and started to use convict labor, which resulted in poorly made, and expensive tools (Doc 2). This document explains how the monopolization of salt and iron has caused prices of tools to surge, but the intent is to inform the government of how this increase of prices has caused poor peasants to use wooden tools, which has inflict more painful work upon them. Confucian
This attitude toward technology can be seen not only by the Romans or Hans, but by the Persians. Similar to the Roman aqueducts, the Persians had qantas which were underground canals that transports water into town. Also like the Roman aqueducts, the Persian qanats were carefully built, by being built underground to prevent evaporation. Similar to the Hans’ Confucianism, the Persian had Buddhism, which influenced the attitude toward technology. These ways of life both have respect and work for others and balanced relationships as central ideas, which influence the amount of appreciation and respect toward technology. The classical period of these civilization saw many technological changes and advances, which led to many new attitudes toward these new types of